doctor who

'Basketball Wives LA' (8PM ET, VH1) series premiere
A Los Angeles-based spin-off from the Miami original, this drama-filled reality show features the wives, girlfriends and exes of some of basketball's most prominent players, including Imani Showalter, Drayla Michele, Laura and Gloria Govan, Kimsha Artest, Malaysia Pargo and Jackie Christie.

'Hell's Kitchen' (9PM ET, Fox) new timeslot
The culinary challenge show switches timeslots as six chefs compete to make it into the final five.

'Hoarders' (9PM ET, A&E) season finale
A follow-up to check the progress of five people who were profiled last season, including a woman with a house full of cats, a man whose property was condemned, and a woman whose hoarding was so bad that her husband had to sleep in the car.

Who is River Song and what's her connection to other characters on 'Doctor Who'?

Why do stories have to be told in a linear fashion, and what does "linear" even mean?

Do you have to fully understand what's going on in a story -- any story, even one that doesn't involve alien incursions -- in order to enjoy it?

I discussed all those things and more with 'Doctor Who' executive producer and head writer Steven Moffat in anticipation of the show's Saturday return on BBC America.

Truth be told, I was a bit nervous to talk to Moffat. I'd read other interviews in which he seemed -- well, prickly is the wrong word, but (justifiably) unwilling to suffer fools gladly. And when it comes to timey-wimey stories and the kind of puzzle plots that he sometimes creates for 'Doctor Who,' I don't mind admitting that I can be a bit of a head-scratching fool.

In this week's edition, Ryan McGee and I talk about 'Breaking Bad' and 'Doctor Who' from a couple of different perspectives -- we chat about how splitting seasons into half-seasons (or shortening TV seasons) affects shows creatively, and we also share our responses to each show at this point in their very different lives.

It feels as though we've had to wait an eternity for the show's sixth season to recommence, and there were dozens of unanswered questions floating around by the end of 'A Good Man Goes to War,' the ripping mid-season finale that aired in June. The good news is, the show's executive producer, Steven Moffat, and star, Matt Smith, both said in recent interviews that all those big questions will be answered by the time the seventh season wraps up Oct. 1. My interview with Smith is below, and I'll post the interview with Moffat soon.

Many of the biggest 'Doctor Who' questions revolve around River Song, a.k.a. Melody Pond, who, it emerged in 'A Good Man Goes to War,' is the daughter of the Doctor's companions, Rory and Amy. Be assured that the interview with Matt Smith below doesn't contain any specific intel about what's to come. But after the interview with Smith, you'll get a River Song-style warning about "Spoilers!" which include the very interesting (and River-centric) title of the upcoming season finale.

'Bachelor Pad' (8PM ET, ABC)
If seeing grown adults slowly having their sanity slip away in an alcohol-soaked pool-party setting wasn't entertaining enough, this week the contestants tackle synchronized swimming! We can also look forward to another macho display of testosterone poisoning from Jake Pavelka and Kasey Kahl.

'The Lying Game' (9PM ET, ABC Family)
The second episode of this twisted tale sees Emma struggling to keep up the charade of being Sutton with her sister still missing, while Ethan helps her prepare for the father-daughter dance.

'Top Gear' (9PM ET, BBC America) season premiere
If you like your entertainment a little less soapy and a little more speedy, check out the 17th season premiere of the world's most beloved car show, with all the same stunts, challenges and test drives you've come to know and love. Rock legend Alice Cooper will take part in 'The Star in the Reasonably Priced Car' challenge this week.

What happens when a Time Lord meets a reviled dictator? Viewers will have to wait until Aug. 27 when the eagerly anticipated 'Doctor Who' episode 'Let's Kill Hitler' airs.

In this preview clip below, the TARDIS seems to be having a bit of a problem. When the Doctor and his companions gather their bearings, they're face to face with ... you guessed it, Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

What happens next? You'll have to wait until the series returns to BBC America on Aug. 27 to find out.

The wait is almost over! 'Doctor Who' returns with new episodes on Aug. 27, but to tide you over, BBC has released a new prequel clip to 'Let's Kill Hitler.'

Spoiler warning!

In the clip below, set between 'A Good Man Goes to War' and 'Let's Kill Hitler,' Amy Pond calls the TARDIS and leaves the Doctor a message on the answering machine -- yes, the TARDIS has an answering machine -- hoping to get some information on her missing baby.

The prequel clip was written by 'Doctor Who' showrunner Steven Moffat. He also penned 'A Good Man Goes to War' and the anticipated 'Let's Kill Hitler' episode.

Starring Matt Smith, 'Doctor Who' follows the adventures of the ancient, mysterious alien Time Lord known as "The Doctor." A British cultural institution, it originally aired on the BBC from 1963 to 1989, and was then resurrected as a TV series in 2005 with Christopher Eccleston in the title role.

Matt Smith of 'Doctor Who' experienced his first Comic-Con over the weekend, and at the start of the show's Sunday panel in a packed Hall H, he said it was "completely overwhelming."

And that was before he began answering fan questions from people inside Dalek costumes.

Below are highlights from the 'Doctor Who' panel -- and check out these trailers for the show's fall episodes, which begin airing Aug. 27 on BBC America. (Regarding the trailers and what's below, as River Song might say, "Spoilers!")

* Smith and Karen Gillan, who plays Amy Pond, said that the script for 'A Good Man Goes to War,' the show's mid-season finale, had fake pages -- the ending they read was not the real ending.

'Doctor Who' fans have just about a month to wait before new episodes from the hotly anticipated second half of Season 6 air in the US.

To whet their appetite, the BBC and BBC America have released two new trailers, in which we are told "Something is happening to Time." Uh oh.

Why does the Doctor say his time is running out? Who is Winston Churchill pointing a gun at? Er, did Adolf Hitler just thank the Doctor, Amy and Rory for saving his life? And just why, exactly, is the Doctor trying to make out with Craig Owens (James Corden)?

A one-show podcast this time: Ryan McGee and I talk all 'Doctor Who,' all the time (well, not all the time -- we clocked in at just under an hour this week).

We talk about the new season of 'Who' as a whole, we gab about the River Song revelation and 'A Good Man Goes to War' in detail, and we speculate about what may be next for Rory, Amy and the Doctor.

Did we mention that Rory is awesome? We also love the Victorian lizard lady and her plucky companion, who should get their own spinoff now (which someone on Twitter dubbed 'Cagney and Scaly'). In any event, it was a great end to an uneven season, all of which we discuss in the 'Who'-cast.

Roy Skelton, known for voicing the Daleks on 'Doctor Who' from 1967-1988, has died at the age of 79.

According to the BBC, Skelton passed away after suffering from a stroke.

Besides voicing the Doctor's sworn enemies the Daleks, Skelton also voiced a number of other characters including the Cybermen and Krotons. In 2002, Skelton lent his voice to the audio drama 'Sarah Jane Smith: Test of Nerve.'

In addition to his 'Doctor Who' work, Skelton was known in the U.K. for providing the voices of George and Zippy on the popular children's series 'Rainbow.' The series ended in 1992, but Skelton reprised the role of Zippy in a 2008 episode of BBC One's 'Ashes to Ashes.'

It sure was nice to see all of this "Flesh" and "Gangers" business finally lead to something truly shocking and intriguing for our time-traveling TARDIS crew on the latest 'Doctor Who.' Now -- for those of us who didn't skip ahead, of course -- begins the longest week ever: The wait for the eagerly anticipated 'Doctor Who' mid-season finale, 'A Good Man Goes to War.' Can. Not. Wait! Torrents. So. Tempting! Damn you, Memorial Day weekend!

OK ... where were we now? Oh, yes, 'The Almost People.' Right. Let's get to it then ...

The latest 'Doctor Who' double-episode arc began with a fun and insane gothic horror creepfest, 'The Rebel Flesh,' and things only got creepier and "more insanerer" with 'The Almost People.' This week's episode offered more horror and suspense -- and more disturbing questions about human perception and identity -- before delivering a brain-rattling freak-out of an ending. I mean, did you see what happened!? It was just so ... barmy!

'Bobby Fischer Against the World' (9PM ET, HBO)
HBO kicks off its summer documentary series with a film that chronicles the brilliant rise of chess prodigy Bobby Fischer, who became a grandmaster as a teenager, battled Russia's Boris Spassky in a legendary 1972 match and, in his controversial later years, became paranoid and withdrawn. This documentary draws on interviews with chess legend Gary Kasparov, author Malcolm Gladwell, talk-show host Dick Cavett, Paul Marshall (Fischer's personal attorney), Harry Sneider (his trainer) and photographer Harry Benson, who had access to Fischer before and during the 1972 championship.